


What a Time to Be Alive

by EldritchSandwich



Category: Anna and the Apocalypse
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/F, First Kiss, Fluffy Sandwich, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 13:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16934097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EldritchSandwich/pseuds/EldritchSandwich
Summary: On the road out of town, Anna and Steph take a moment to connect.





	What a Time to Be Alive

Anna leaned over the fence that hemmed in the parking lot, staring out at the gloomy countryside. It probably wasn't the best idea to split up, even a little, but it had been almost an hour's driving since they'd seen any sign of zombies. Well, any sign of anyone, really. Besides, the little roadside petrol station in the middle of nowhere was as good a place to stop as any until they figured out where they were going next.

If there was anywhere left.

"Shitty instant coffee?"

Anna jumped and spun her head to find Steph leaning against the fence next to her offering a paper cup and smile. Anna winced and took the former with a sheepish smile of her own. "Thanks." She took a tentative sip before her eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, where did you get hot water?"

Steph gestured back toward the shop. "Oh, Nick started a fire." Anna shot back from the fence only for Steph's hand on her shoulder to hold her in place. "Whoa, easy! Contained, on purpose. They've got some camping stuff for sale in there. Also like...axes and shit, so we might want to take some of that with us." Anna frowned, but nodded, and Steph tilted her head. "You okay? I mean obviously...no one's okay, but..."

Anna shook her head. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about...everywhere. About...where we go next."

"Yeah." Steph smiled wanly. "You know I was just thinking about back home, America...do you think all those guns made it better, or worse?"

Anna laughed bitterly. "You think there's a 'worse'?" Steph shrugged, silently conceding the point; her gentle eyes were fixed on the horizon like Anna's had been, long fingers worrying at the metal.

"Do we...come back from this? People, I mean. Do we just...end here?"

Anna winced. "I don't know."

Steph frowned. "Listen...I'm sorry. About your dad and John, and...everyone." Anna nodded absently, and Steph cleared her throat. "So...any idea where we're going next?"

Anna squeezed her eyes shut, the waxed paper of the cup crinkling under her grip. "I don't know."

"Oh. Okay."

"Well I mean, what, cities are no good. Too many people, too much chaos. There are other military bases, but how do we know they won't just shoot us on sight? And that's assuming anyone's still even alive! Do we find a farm out here somewhere, do we try to just hide and hope for the best, and then if we do that how the fuck are we supposed to aaah!" Anna dropped the crushed cup, flapping her hand furiously to try to shake off the scalding hot coffee. "Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck god fucking dammit, I...I..."

Anna's shoulders began to shake, only for Steph's hands to grab hers, guiding it back to the cool metal of the fence. "Hey, hey, shh, it's okay." As Anna forced the tears back with a shuddering breath, Steph's gentle thumb stroked across the burned skin. "You don't have to do this yourself," she murmured, and Anna found herself leaning into the touch. Tenderness: when was the last time she'd felt that? "Anna, you're...the bravest, smartest person I've ever met, but you don't have to do this alone. I promise I—"

The rest of Steph's sentence was swallowed up by a shocked squeak and Anna's mouth. The kiss was brief, almost chaste, but when it broke both Steph and Anna were red. Anna looked down at her hands. "Sorry. I shouldn't...I didn't..."

"Wh..." Steph licked her lips. "Why did you?"

"Because...I've thought about it. And...and we'll probably all be dead soon, and contrary to what everyone seems to think I don't always have a pla—"

This time the kiss was longer, harder, their mouths moving together and Steph's fingers gripping hers. When Steph pulled back, she smiled gingerly. "You don't always have to have a plan."

Anna licked her lips, then smiled. She looked up shyly into Steph's gentle eyes. "No plan?"

Steph grinned. "No plan." Anna just nodded gratefully, fingers threading between Steph's. Steph tilted her head thoughtfully. "Well, there is one thing to plan."

"What's that?"

"How we're gonna keep this from Nick. Because we have to live in a car with him for God knows how long and I am not listening to him making girl-on-girl jokes for the rest of our lives."

And for the first time this Christmas, Anna laughed.


End file.
